I am interested in exhibiting in a trade show for the first time. My
designs fit in the fashion jewelry category. Do any of you have any
suggestions on which shows a should apply to? most of the ones I
have found are for fine jewelry. since it is my first should I just
consider non-juried shows? I would really appreciate some

Hi Christina, I used to sell to the accessories market. I had salesreps in San Francisco, Denver, and Seattle. The reps were all verygood and sold a lot of "jewelry" for me. They also carried otheritems such as socks, belts, hair accessories, etc. My jewelry justkind of fit in. I had accounts with Marshall Fields, Nordstoms, andmany small boutiques. It is a whole different market than finejewelry. There is a lot to learn from these reps. First, they wantknow if you can produce for them so they can sell because theyusually need a 15% commission. So, can you make enough in 4-6 weeksto fill their orders on time? Can you wait at least 30-90 days to bepaid and give the Department stores a discount and ship separately toall of their stores? It is a big step. Try to get into an accessoriesmarket trade show as a guest and find someone who may have the timeto talk to you about your "line". Or try some place like Nordstroms.Find out who their jewelry buyer is in your area and see if you canshow them your jewelry. They do like to buy unique designer jewelryin silver and semi precious stones. Start small. It can becomeoverwhelming if you get too many orders at once. Have fun!